Source: Team_Talk
Ally looks to recapture winning spirit
Rangers assistant Ally McCoist feels their pre-season trip to Australia can help harness the spirit that led them to the title last season.[LNB] McCoist believes that a trip to Germany at this stage last year proved an important base for Rangers to retain the SPL trophy despite being unable to add to their squad.[LNB]Manager Walter Smith has not purchased a player since August 2008 and his squad has been severely weakened this summer by the departures of six players, including Scotland pair Kris Boyd and Kevin Thomson.[LNB]But McCoist feels the togetherness and hunger in the squad can help them defy the odds again in the coming campaign.[LNB]He told the club's official website: "It's an important thing in pre-season to get yourselves away to a good training camp with good facilities.[LNB]"As much as anything, the change of scenery gives the players a real opportunity to bond and click as a unit.[LNB]"The players will agree with me when I say that last year, one of our strongest points was the spirit the lads had.[LNB]"Within their own camp and their squad, there was a strength and desire that I hadn't seen for a long, long time.[LNB]"I would never underestimate how much value there was in us going away and building that harmony.[LNB]"Hopefully being abroad as a group again works for us in the same way as we look to defend the title."[LNB]Rangers face Blackburn in their first match in the Sydney Festival of Football on Sunday before taking on the hosts and AEK Athens over the following six days.[LNB]And forward Steven Naismith revealed the squad's winning mentality would ensure they took their pre-season task seriously.[LNB]Naismith, who was put through two training sessions with his team-mates today, said: "We definitely want to win the event and we haven't travelled halfway around the world just to make the numbers up.[LNB]"At a club such as Rangers, there is always pressure on you to deliver and we would love to win every game in Australia.[LNB]"There are a lot of younger boys in the squad who will be out to impress the manager and from that point of view, it increases the competition amongst the rest of us."
